Architectural Terracotta

YMCA Building, Merthyr

South Wales has a number of terracotta buildings, including the derelict YMCA building in Merthyr. This was voted by the Victorian Society as being in the top 10 of threatened old buildings in the UK in 2011. Meanwhile the nearby Town Hall, another terracotta gem, is being lovingly restored to create a new centre for arts and culture.

Terracotta was widely used by the Victorians and Edwardians to decorate buildings, perhaps the most recognisable building in Wales being the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay. Terracotta is made from high quality ground clay and sand which is cast in moulds and then heated at very high temperatures. William Morris apparently recognised architectural terracotta as a craft process, hence the term 'hand made buildings'.

Information about architectural terracotta can be found at http://ihbc.org.uk/context_archive/52/UNDERSTANDING_dir/UNDERSTANDING_s.htm

More about this building in particular is at http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/ymcabuilding.htm